Optical fibers or optical waveguides which are formed, for example, from glass fibers or plastic fibers can be spliced, that is to say connected to one another, in a splicing device. The splicing device aligns the two ends of the fibers to be spliced with respect to one another, and melts them thermally, for example by welding by means of an arc.
In this case, a user interface is generally available for control of the splicing device, and is in the form of a graphics interface or a text-based menu. A user communicates with the splicing device via this user interface.
Particularly in the case of a splicing device, the user interface may use a menu, which reflects the complex requirements for control of the device. In some circumstances, only a small number of buttons are available as an input device for control purposes, by means of which a multiplicity of functions of the splicing device are intended to be controlled.
For example, a plurality of different programs for connecting different fiber types in each case are available in the splicing device. Furthermore, parameters for the spicing process can in this case be adjusted, such as a splicing current to be used, a desired feed for the fibers during the splicing process, or the fiber type to be spliced.
For a splicing process, a user inserts the optical fibers to be spliced, or their fiber ends, into appropriate holders after previous treatment that is normally required, in which holders the optical fibers are fixed by manually closing respective flaps. Since an optical fiber is generally held and inserted using one hand, and the flap is closed using the other hand, the optical fibers can in each case be inserted into the splicing device only successively. In the case of a device which can be held in the hand, the insertion of the optical fibers and the closing of the corresponding flaps are considerably more difficult.
As the splicing process progresses, the melting of the optical fibers and any measurement processes are started by selecting appropriate menu items. During this process, once again, only one hand of the user is normally free, for example, for holding the optical fibers, since the other hand is required to control the user interface. This can result in a higher mechanical load on the optical fibers, which in some circumstances leads to effects on the quality of the splice point. A user of the splicing device can therefore be confronted with the problem of actually wishing to have both hands free for handling the optical fibers, even though one hand is required for operating the user interface of the splicing device. This can lead to disadvantageous effects on the time for carrying out a complete splicing process and on the quality of the splice point of the optical fibers.